1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head such as in ink jet recording head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus. In particular, the invention relates to a liquid ejecting head provided with joining sections which are connected to a member which supplies a liquid, actuators as power sources for causing the liquid to be ejected, and a circuit board which is electrically connected to the actuators, and the invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus.
2. Related Art
The liquid ejecting apparatus is an apparatus which is provided with a liquid ejecting head, and which ejects various liquids from the ejecting head. An image recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer or an ink jet plotter is an example of the liquid ejecting apparatus; however, recently liquid ejecting apparatuses are also being adapted for use in various manufacturing apparatuses, making use of the characteristic of being capable of causing minute amounts of a liquid to accurately land on predetermined positions. For example, the liquid ejecting apparatus are being adapted for use in display manufacturing apparatuses which manufacture color filters of liquid crystal displays and the like, electrode forming apparatuses which form electrodes of organic electro-luminescence (EL) displays, face emission displays (FED), and the like, and chip manufacturing apparatuses which manufacture biochips (biochemical elements). In a recording head for an image recording apparatus, a liquid-state ink is ejected, and in a color material ejecting head for a display manufacturing apparatus, solutions of color materials for each of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are ejected. In an electrode material ejecting head for an electrode forming apparatus, a liquid-state electrode material is ejected, and in a bio-organic matter ejecting head for a chip manufacturing apparatus, a solution of bio-organic matter is ejected.
There are various types of the liquid ejecting head; however, in a so-called on-demand system that is in wide use, a configuration is adopted in which a supply of the liquid is received from a liquid supply member (for example a liquid cartridge) in which the liquid is stored, guided into a liquid flow path inside a head, and the liquid inside the liquid flow path is ejected from nozzles by driving actuators such as piezoelectric elements or a heat emitting elements. In such a liquid ejecting head, electronic parts and the like such as a circuit board relating to the driving of the actuators are provided in addition to connecting portions (for example introduction needles) which are connected to a liquid supply member. Therefore, even in a rare case in which the liquid leaks from the connecting portions, it is important to prevent the liquid from flowing to the electronic part side. For example, JP-A-2006-082317 discloses a liquid ejecting head provided with a discharge opening which communicates with the head exterior in the location at which the connecting portions which are connected to the liquid supply source are provided, and further provided with a liquid absorbent material which absorbs the liquid in the periphery of the connecting portions, such that the liquid absorbent material covers the discharge opening. Accordingly, the liquid that leaks from the connecting portions and is absorbed by the liquid absorbent material is discharged from the head exterior through the discharge opening.
Incidentally, depending on the situation at the time of usage of a liquid ejecting apparatus with a liquid ejecting head mounted thereon, the apparatus is not necessarily in a horizontal orientation, and there is a likelihood that the apparatus will be installed in an inclined manner. In particular, in recent years, small, easy-to-carry liquid ejecting apparatuses have also been developed, and the orientation of the apparatus during carrying is not necessarily horizontal. Even in the configuration described above, depending on the orientation of the apparatus, there is a likelihood that, once the liquid is discharged from the discharge opening, the liquid will travel along the gaps between the components of the liquid ejecting head and flow to the electronic part side.